The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks, most of which have recently popped up somewhere in the blogosphere. Bit of a mixed bag with a slight leaning towards house, disco, and remixes, but generally just anything that for some reason tickled the writer’s fancy.

Track of the week: ‘Garde le Pour Toi’ by Paradis

I have really liked Paradis’ output so far, there’s a certain elegance that it’s got to it. This one starts maybe a bit less elegant than I’d have guessed, with that percussion at the start. Soon after that you get the main rhythm, which is deep and well-rounded, and the aforementioned elegance comes in at about 1:10 with the higher synth sound, that’s the one that makes it dreamy right there. And after that percussion and rather house-y beginning, it is that second vibe that pulls through the rest of the song. Especially when, after the two minute mark, the French singing (yes, singing, you dirty sob) comes along, which has a dreamy quality to it as well. In the mean time, the percussion in the background makes sure this one keeps rolling forward, so you’ll still be shuffling your feet to this one while you are being transported to Parisian paradise. After the surprising start this track turns into what I was expecting from these lads, and my expectations weren’t that low I have to admit.

‘Bark in the Dark’ by Curses

This one starts with the beat, and you immediately get a certain energy from this one, an energy which becomes even more noticeable when the first batch of auxiliary sounds come in. This one is not for the dreamers amongst us, but it’s party-people-unite on this one. You just sense the big sound coming, it is really working towards that one. Love the additional percussion that comes in through the party sounds, the latter which slowly evolve into these horns that cannot be denied and which fall just short of literally screaming “party people”, though that is certainly the feeling they evoke as the track creeps closer to the third minute mark. That’s the point when Curses throw it all in there with a major beat, bass, and the aforementioned party horns. To give some extra flavour to this whole thing there are shimmers of guitar and vocals that one can hear if one listens closely, though they are there just to add a slight spark. There is a brief change-up away from the horn sounds, though they quickly go back to where the party’s at. There’s another change-up at about the six minute mark, where the track goes deeper and more minimal (though it has got to get more minimal, as in the song’s party mode this one was pretty much maxed out). I just love it, it’s just got all the party vibes in there that you want, and if that’s what you looking for they don’t come much bigger than this.

‘The Stark Truth’ (v2) by Perseus Traxx

How about some atmospheric electro huh? Perseus Traxx definitely puts the vibe first here, and only after about twenty seconds you get this slow, understated beat in there. Just before the forty second mark you get those kind of spacey synths, though the percussion that you can still hear underneath all that is what puts the atmosphere in as far as I’m concerned. And as the synth goes on, the layers underneath change, and so he subtly continous to shift the balance depending on the kinds of instruments and sounds he works in. Around the four minute mark it goes really quiet and minimal, with just a few sparse sounds that a little bit later on get a little bit of help from a little tiny beat to ride this home. It’s got the mood down pat, so if you want something with nice percussion in the back and that relies on atmosphere, this one is a nice free download to spend some time with I reckon.

‘Kool And The Boog’ by Hold Youth

How about a trip to the club with this one, eh? Starts with a deep, thudding beat, though soon it gets an extra rhythm element (aside from the asymmetrical drumming) before they throw in those soulful, deconstructed vocals. At about 1:30 you get some nice bass action, which lends some serious boogie to this one (if you weren’t dancing yet, you certainly will be now). The vocals keep on working it, and the way they are edited work really well with the clubby feel of this track. Just love the small little additions, all the percussion elements, but also the little piano they at points work in there. The bass keeps this one rolling and gaining momentum, and the extra percussion and the addition of the female vocals (which go ooh-uuh-oohh and do not really sing) just lend an extra layer there for some depth. It’s just a great deep house track to get dancing to. Hold Youth, by the way, a combination of talents comprised of Le Loup and Seuil.

‘Loved By You’ by Mannmademusic

I’m already hooked from the start, as he first gives us those old school funky sounds with that organ, and only after he has eased us into the vibe of the track he adds the main beat. That dance sound gets a bit deeper and a bit more prominent as the first part of the track goes on, though it gets stripped just before the two minute mark to let us revel in the vibe again. Obviously, that rhythm returns with a vengeance (as it always does, and will continue to do on multiple occassions throughout this track). I just love how the track keeps rolling, and one layer behind the beat you can find plenty of rhythm and funk there with the piano and stuff. So the first layer is there for the dancing with the deep beat, and behind that layer all the good stuff is happening, all the stuff you can get lost in and do some extra dancing to. Though you can always return to the safety system he’s build in (namely that deep beat). I love it, it’s got all the goodness but it’s also real easy to dance to for just about everyone, and despite these two layers it still feels like such a smooth mixture. Yet another ace track by Mannmademusic.

‘Runaway Love’ by Kon (stripped down mix)

Lets get to some old school disco, eh? Kon really strips this one down, so don’t expect a whole bunch of high energy disco strings from the off here. Actually, you just have to make do with that single bass line for a while, as that one basically gets no help out there. Well, that’s not entirely true, there’s a bit of percussion, and he weaves in some other sounds like some synths, horns, but most importantly Linda Clifford’s vocals, singing that she’s got no heartaches to spare. Which is the cue for some of those strings to eventually come in. The big advantage to this stripped down approach is that all those individual elements are basically forced to shine, so that bass gets plenty of time, and Clifford’s vocals are clear, audible, and will tell you what it’s like. Any time an auxiliary sound comes in it also doesn’t feel cluttered, as they are really just filling up emptiness as opposed to piling on. So yeah, if you’re looking for that dancefloor killer, this isn’t it. However, for that cocktail disco party you are invited to this summery weekend, where you want to have just that single bassline to dance to and where you want the vocals to shine, this is a brilliant thing to occasionally pop out. And honey, “stop messin’ with my heart if you don’t mean it”. Just saying.